BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — The trial for former Northwest police officer Michael Hayes at the Brunswick County Courthouse was pushed back again.

We’re hearing it’s because of a statewide shortage of court reporters.

This morning, Hayes was supposed to go to trial for allegedly being involved with an underage prostitute but his court date was moved to August 18th.

This delayed trial is like many across the state. The state court reporting manager David Jester says it’s due to a five percent salary cut in North Carolina that caused many court reporters to leave the state. “A 5% cut may not sound like much but it makes it so we aren’t competitive anymore,” Jester said. “We’re losing court reporters to other jurisdictions around the country.”

Courthouse officials say the shortage is entirely to blame but Jester says that’s not entirely true.

“We had pulled some strings and arranged to have them another court reporter and they told us … that case was gonna get moved for another reason,” Jester said.